Healthy Populations Block 6 Exam Commercial Dog Breeding

Hobby breeder definition

• show dogs, hunting dogs, service dogs

• breed enthusiasts

• “backyard breeders“

commercial breeders definition

• larger scale, often regulated

• “puppy mills“

What do reputable dog breeders prioritize?

• health

• temperament

• welfare

• breed for health and function over appearance

• veterinary care and records available

• typically specialize in 1 or 2 breeds

Commercial dog breeder stats

• breed dogs for livelihood

• 10,000 in US and 3,000 licensed by USDA

• 30 states have laws regulating them

• 2-3 million puppies annually

• 9.4 puppies/year/female

• breeding lifespan is 5-6 years

• 205,000 breeding dogs

How do commercial dog breeders sell animals?

commercial dog breeders → brokers and transporters → pet stores

or

commercial dog breeders → internet sales

Who does animal welfare act regulate?

wholesale breeders and dealers who supply animals to pet stores, brokers, or research facilities

Class A license definition

• for commercial dog breeders that sell animals bred and raised at facility

• have 4+ breeding females and sell wholesale, or sight unseen, to brokers or pet stores or online

Exceptions to license requirements

• if all sales are face to face then no license required

• if not breeding pets (hunting, working, maintain bloodlines) then no license required

Class B license definition

• for brokers or animal auction

• purchase animals to sell to stores or breeders

Requirements for Class A Commercial Dog Breeder

• must have relationship with attending veterinarian

  • veterinarian visits at least once a year

• veterinarian must aid in developing and implementing program of veterinary care

  • includes vaccinations, parasite control, and emergency care

• must have written program of veterinary care

  • approved and signed by attending veterinarian and by person seeking licensure

  • available to show at any time to inspector

• must have written exercise program

  • for all dogs except dams with nursing puppies and dogs under 12 weeks of age

  • can be met by providing sufficient space in primary enclosure

Top states for commercial dog breeding in US

1. Missouri

2. Indiana

3. Ohio

4. Iowa

5. Oklahoma

6. Kansas

Average dog count of commercial dog breeding operations

most have <50

How many commercial dog breeders were in compliance with Class A licensing?

• 91% in compliance

• 0.5% deemed critical non-compliant (welfare impacts)

Challenges to health and welfare

• maintain physical health

  • exercise

  • higher risk of infectious disease

  • overcrowding

  • hygiene and sanitation

  • fresh food and water

  • grooming

• maintain emotional health

  • socialization with people and dogs

  • exercise

  • enrichment to combat boredom

• preventive and medical care

  • costly for large numbers of animal

  • rake to veterinary clinic or have vet visit facility

Antimicrobial resistance problems

campylobacter outbreak from 2016-2018 and 2019-2021 traced back to pet stores like Petland

puppy mill definition

• derogatory term

• commercial dog breeding operations that fail to meet basic physical, behavioral, and/or physiological standards

• may rise to level of animal cruelty similar to animal hoarding

Who is exempted from ODA commercial dog breeding program?

• medical kennels for dogs

• research kennels for dogs

• animal shelters for dogs that are operated by municipal corporation or by county

• animal shelters for dogs that are operated by humane society

• veterinarians that provide clinical care and are not engaged in practice of dog breeding

Ohio High Volume Breeders History

• in 2013 ohio passed regulations requiring licensing for high volume breeders and established commercial dog breeding advisory board

• updated in 2018 to lower number of dogs required to be considered high volume

ODA high volume breeder definition

• establishment that keeps, houses, or maintains six or more breeding dogs and does at least one of the following:

  • sells five or more adult dogs or puppies in any calendar year to dog brokers or pet stores

  • sells forty or more puppies in any calendar year to public

  • keeps, houses, and maintains, at any given time in a calendar year, more than forty puppies that are under four months of age, that have been bred on premises of establishment, and have been primarily kept, housed, and maintained from birth on premises

What does ODA require for High Volume Breeders?

• housing

• minimum cage size requirements

• visual barriers

• solid flooring

• lighting

• sanitation

• nutrition

• exercise

• socialization

• grooming

• health care, veterinary plan

• transportation

• recordkeeping and identification

• biosecurity and disease control

• waste management

• whelping

• transportation

Housing requirements for ODA High Volume Breeders

• primary enclosure for each dog has minimum floor space of two times square of length of dog in inches plus nine inches

• floor should be solid or consist of slats

• additional space can be provided with grid flooring

  • not bare metal, must be coated in plastic or polymer

  • prevents paws/toes from falling through or getting trapped

  • is disinfectable

  • no sharp edges

  • does not sag, bend, or bounce

• must have outdoor access during daylight hours

  • twice as large as primary enclosure

• need solid area to lay on

• must have partial or complete visual barrier

What is not legal for housing dogs in Ohio?

• wire flooring

• stacked enclosures

Housing for dogs based on breeding status Ohio laws

• males often housed in small groups

• females often housed in small groups until near term

• around day 50 of pregnancy, females moved to individual enclosure with whelping box

• mom stays with her litter of puppies until they are at least 8 weeks of age

Socialization requirements for ODA High Volume Breeders

• <16 weeks have daily positive physical human contact to facilitate socialization

• all dogs have at least 15 minutes of daily positive human contact and socialization beyond feeding, cleaning, and other care

• if housed singly will have daily visual contact with other dogs

• effective enrichment provided daily in primary enclosure

• must be able to safely access outdoors during daylight hours

  • area at least 2x size of primary enclosure

  • at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily

Veterinarian requirements for ODA high volume breeders

• must have attending veterinarian

• must visit each housing facility at least once per year

• must conduct physical exam of each adult dog and puppy at least once a year

• provide written plan of care, which includes:

  • exercise

  • behavior and social needs

  • nutrition

  • vaccination and parasite control program

  • monitoring and surveillance plan for Brucella canis

  • Dewclaw removal and tail docking instructions

Ohio Valid VCPR requirements

• veterinarian assumes responsibility for making clinical judgements regarding health of patient and need for medical treatment, medical services, or both for patient, and client has agreed to follow veterinarian’s instructions regarding patient

• veterinarian has knowledge of patient to initiate at least general diagnosis of medical condition of patient. Veterinarian shall have seen patient recently and be acquainted personally with keeping and care of patient

• veterinarian is readily available for follow-up evaluation or has arranged for emergency coverage

Health requirements for ODA high volume breeders

• dogs to monitored daily and receive appropriate veterinary care when sick or injured

• isolation area available and used for potentially contagious animals

• euthanasia, when needed, must be performed by veterinarian

breeding health requirements for ODA high volume breeders

• dam must have physical exam and normal BCS after weaning and before breeding

• no more than 8 litters in dam’s lifetime

  • over 5.5-6 years

• puppies must remain with dam until 8 weeks old

Frequency of infection and disease of brucella canis in dogs

• all dogs susceptible

• prevalence unclear

  • up to 30% in some countries

  • up to 8% in southern US

  • underreported and increasing

• most common in dogs from breeding kennels

• common internationally in breeding stray/feral populations

  • being stray is not risk, being part of breeding group is

Modes of transmission of brucella canis in dogs

• venereal (natural and AI)

• In utero

• blood transfusion

• nursing

• syringes, fomites

Potentially infectious material for brucella canis in dogs

• fetus, placenta, fetal membranes, vaginal discharge

• semen

• urine (males especially)

• saliva

• nasal and ocular secretions

• blood

• feces milk

Brucella Canis disease cycle in dogs

• incubation period = 2-3 weeks

• infected for life

  • bacteremic for 6 months to 5 years after initial exposure

  • organisms persist in mononuclear phagocytes, bone marrow, lymph node, spleen, and prostate after cleared from blood and can recur anytime

• signs highly variable

• major reproductive losses in kennels

How does brucella canis affect female dogs?

• infertility

• if pregnant

  • late-term abortion, stillbirths

  • vaginal discharge

  • weak pups that die soon after birth

How does brucella canis affect male dogs?

• abnormal sperm

• infertility

• epididymitis, scrotal edema, orchitis, testicular. atrophy

Brucella canis disease signs in dogs

• lymphadenitis

• lethargy

• decreased appetite

• stiffness, back pain (discospondylitis)

• asymptomatic

• death is rare in adults

Contributors to increased prevalence of brucella canis in dogs

• increase in dog breeding

• increase in size of breeding kennels

• sale and movement of breeding dogs around country

• changes in public demand for puppies

prevention and control of brucella canis for dogs

• no vaccine available for dogs

• antimicrobials (cause remission, but may lead to false positive)

• readily killed by disinfectants

• routine testing of all breeding dogs and symptomatic dogs

• test prior and quarantine dogs coming into breeding kennel

• good records essential to identifying potential exposures

prevention and control of brucella canis zoonoses

• neuter and spay reduces risk

• infection is for life and shedding can reoccur at any time

• PPE with suspect and confirmed positive dogs

• PPE during whelping in all dogs

• caution laboratory workers when culturing

B Canis plan for ODA high volume breeder

• whole kennel test in first year of licensure

• test new breeding acquisitions, even if born there

• confirmed positive dogs in commercial dog breeding programs will be euthanized or sterilized and quarantined on premises, must not change ownership

  • puppies born to positive dam must be euthanized or quarantined and tested, demonstrating two consecutive negative tests two months apart after 6 months of age

B canis free kennel status for ODA high volume breeder

• 2 consecutive whole kennel tests negative

• all incoming dogs show two consecutive tests at least 60 days apart prior to entry

B Canis regulations for all dogs in Ohio

• different for screening or confirming

• accredited veterinarian must draw blood

• animal must have permanent ID

• all test results must be reported to ODA within 7 days on form approved by ODA

• all positive tests results must be confirmed at ODA

• ODA will quarantine all exposed, suspect, and confirmed cases

  • no change of ownership permitted for them or their puppies

• owned dogs can be released from quarantine if all conditions are met

  • spay or neutered

  • epidemiological study conducted by ODA to identify exposures

  • the owner is advised as to zoonotic potential

  • two negative tests at least 60 days apart

• infection is lifelong and recrudescence can occur at any time

ODA inspections

• 5 inspectors

  • weekly meetings

• yearly unannounced visit

• inspectors rotate so they don’t do same facility two years in row

• follow up on all complaints

• most common administrative complaints

  • operating without license

  • record keeping

• most common animal care complaints

  • flooring requirements

  • not following veterinary guidance

  • missing pre-breeding physical exam

Canine Care Certified Program Requirements

• physical health

• behavioral health

• environment

• breeding life and retirement

• caretaker expectations